Keast & Hood’s structural design for the new North Philadelphia Law Center maximized the tight urban site in a cost-effective manner.
Non-profit law firm, Community Legal Services, Inc., established a much-needed home in North Philadelphia by constructing a new three-story, 18,500-sf building. The law center houses offices, a library, and meeting rooms for counseling services. It features a vegetated green roof, a courtyard, and solar panels.
Keast & Hood responded to the constraints imposed by adjacent structures on three sides of the tight urban site. Engineers employed several foundation solutions; helical piles, cantilevered grade beams, and conventional spread footings all played a role in avoiding impacts to adjacent building foundations and preventing the need for costly solutions such as underpinning. The law center superstructure is a mix of structural steel and open web steel joists. The front façade features a custom, terra-cotta rain-screen.
The $8.5 million building achieved LEED Gold certification.
Keast & Hood’s structural design for the new North Philadelphia Law Center maximized the tight urban site in a cost-effective manner.
Non-profit law firm, Community Legal Services, Inc., established a much-needed home in North Philadelphia by constructing a new three-story, 18,500-sf building. The law center houses offices, a library, and meeting rooms for counseling services. It features a vegetated green roof, a courtyard, and solar panels.
Keast & Hood responded to the constraints imposed by adjacent structures on three sides of the tight urban site. Engineers employed several foundation solutions; helical piles, cantilevered grade beams, and conventional spread footings all played a role in avoiding impacts to adjacent building foundations and preventing the need for costly solutions such as underpinning. The law center superstructure is a mix of structural steel and open web steel joists. The front façade features a custom, terra-cotta rain-screen.
The $8.5 million building achieved LEED Gold certification.
CLIENT: Atkin Olshin Schade Architects
LOCATION: Philadelphia, PA
TYPE: Commercial, SERVICES: New Construction, MATERIALS: Steel, SUSTAINABILITY: LEED, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Completed project photography © Halkin Mason Photography
